﻿HYDROLOGY 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  229 
  

  

  times, 
  but 
  with 
  the 
  changed 
  conditions 
  of 
  business 
  they 
  have 
  all 
  

   passed 
  away. 
  These 
  tanning 
  establishments 
  all 
  used 
  power 
  from 
  

   Black 
  river 
  for 
  grinding 
  bark. 
  

  

  Beginning 
  with 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  war 
  of 
  1812-15, 
  the 
  manufac- 
  

   ture 
  of 
  cotton 
  and 
  woolen 
  goods 
  became 
  an 
  important 
  industry 
  on 
  

   Black 
  river, 
  the 
  Black 
  River 
  Cotton 
  & 
  Woolen 
  Manufacturing 
  

   Company 
  having 
  been 
  incorporated 
  in 
  1813 
  with 
  a 
  capital 
  of 
  

   $100,000. 
  In 
  1827 
  Levi 
  Beebee 
  erected 
  the 
  Jefferson 
  cotton 
  

   mills, 
  equipped 
  with 
  10,000 
  spindles 
  and 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  cost 
  about 
  

   $200,000, 
  being 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  cotton 
  mills 
  in 
  

   the 
  State. 
  This 
  mill 
  was 
  destroyed 
  by 
  fire 
  in 
  1833. 
  Watertown 
  

   Cotton 
  Mills 
  Company 
  was 
  incorporated 
  in 
  1834 
  with 
  a 
  capital 
  of 
  

   $100,000. 
  This 
  company 
  ran 
  50 
  looms, 
  but 
  after 
  several 
  years, 
  

   the 
  business 
  becoming 
  unprofitable, 
  it 
  was 
  discontinued. 
  The 
  

   Hamilton 
  Woolen 
  Mills 
  Company, 
  which 
  developed 
  the 
  water 
  

   power 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  iSewall's 
  island, 
  was 
  established 
  in 
  1835 
  

   with 
  a 
  capital 
  of 
  |100,000. 
  The 
  dam 
  and 
  factory 
  were 
  built 
  in 
  

   1836. 
  In 
  1842 
  the 
  plant 
  was 
  purchased 
  by 
  the 
  Black 
  River 
  

   Woolen 
  Company, 
  which 
  built 
  a 
  new 
  mill 
  and 
  carried 
  on 
  a 
  fairly 
  

   successful 
  business 
  until 
  1841, 
  when 
  the 
  plant 
  was 
  burned. 
  Sub- 
  

   sequently 
  the 
  business 
  was 
  revived 
  by 
  Loomis 
  & 
  Co., 
  who 
  employed 
  

   about 
  seventy 
  hands 
  in 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  woolen 
  goods. 
  Other 
  

   manufacturing 
  enterprises 
  of 
  this 
  class 
  were 
  the 
  Watertown 
  

   Woolen 
  Company 
  and 
  the 
  Watertown 
  Woolen 
  Manufacturing 
  

   Company. 
  The 
  cotton 
  and 
  woolen 
  manufacturing 
  establishments 
  

   on 
  Black 
  river 
  are 
  now 
  all 
  out 
  of 
  existence. 
  

  

  The 
  machine 
  shop 
  of 
  Nathaniel 
  Wiley, 
  established 
  about 
  1820, 
  

   was 
  the 
  first 
  iron 
  manufacturing 
  establishment 
  at 
  Watertown. 
  

   In 
  1823 
  George 
  Golding 
  established 
  a 
  machine 
  shop 
  on 
  Sewall's 
  

   island, 
  making 
  mill 
  gearings, 
  factory 
  machines 
  and 
  an 
  occasional 
  

   steam 
  engine. 
  This 
  shop 
  ultimately 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  founding 
  of 
  the 
  

   present 
  Bagley 
  & 
  Sewall 
  Company, 
  which 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  

   establishments 
  of 
  its 
  kind 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  

   employing 
  about 
  125 
  hands, 
  chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  paper- 
  

   mill 
  machinery. 
  The 
  Watertown 
  Steam 
  Engine 
  Company 
  has 
  

   grown 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  business 
  established 
  by 
  Hoard 
  & 
  Bradford 
  

  

  